


Therapy, Never a Friend To Me

by Advocate_267



Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: Anxiety, Childhood Trauma, Group Therapy, Human AU, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Panic Attacks, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, Stress, Therapy, Vomiting, comfort items
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25169113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Advocate_267/pseuds/Advocate_267
Summary: Megavolt is given a choice, jail, or attend group therapy sessions to better himself. At this point jail sounds much more pleasant.
Relationships: Megavolt (Disney)/Original Character(s), Megavolt/Quackerjack (Disney)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Therapy, Never a Friend To Me

**Author's Note:**

> I'm been wanting to write something about Megavolt dealing with his mental health for ages and what better time than when my own is tanking. This was actually kind of therapeutic to write and it's oddly made me feel a lot better. Hope you enjoy.

Megavolt sneered as he was escorted into the room, disgust written all over his face. No way was he letting anyone think he was excited to be here. Not the warden with a firm grip on his shoulder, not the therapist sitting primly at the head of the circle and certainly not any of the other poor sods he was forced to share his feelings with. 

Speaking off, he was the last to arrive, a collection of five eyes snap up to regard him as he’s led to a cheap plastic chair between a fidgeting guy and a shy-looking girl. It makes Megavolt feel self-conscious in his too-large civilian clothes and his mood darkens significantly. 

“Now that we’re all here I’d like to welcome you all to today’s group therapy session.” Her cheerful greeting is met with stony silence. She isn’t deferred, continuing in that same sickeningly bright tone. “We’re going to begin by getting to know each other a bit better. As we go around the circle please share a bit about yourself, including why you decided this group would be a benefit for you. Who would like to go first?”

“Me, me!” The guy to Megavolt’s left shouts out eagerly, waving his arm up like a kid in class. The therapist smiles at this, granting him permission to go on.

“I’m the one and only Quackerjack!” He says with a flourish, as if everyone should recognise that name. His announcement is just met with stares. “I’m here because it was this or get thrown in the loony bin, which, trust me, isn’t as fun as it sounds.”

The therapist nods in understanding. “And what sort of thing do you like, Quackerjack, any hobbies?”

“Toys!” He giggles out, giving a wide toothy grin. He's gripping one as he speaks, a plush doll with a banana for a head. “I’m a toy lover, collector and designer, despite no one appreciating my genius.” His tone has a gritty edge to it as he spits the last part. “Especially those idiots who fawn over that disgusting Whiffle Boy, they drive me mad I tell you, MAD!” And he’s cackling again, almost falling off his chair in mirth. 

From his outlandish dress sense to the way his mood seems to swing, this was not a guy Megavolt saw himself getting friendly with. 

Unfortunately his turn over Quackerjack saw fit to switch attention to the one sat to his left, namely Megavolt. He bats his lashes in a comical manner.

“What about you, cutie, what’s your damage?”

“Yes, please introduce yourself,” the therapist puts in, and Megavolt’s self-consciousness skyrockets. He can’t help the heat spreading across his face at the attention, making him feel embarrassed and exposed. _You’re a supervillain, get it together!_

He clears his throat and looks at his sneakers, willing his voice to stay even.

“My name’s…” He hesitates. Should he give them his villain or civilian name? The therapist (whose name he’d long forgotten) knew about who he was, warned about how deadly he could be, but what about the others? Would they turn on him? “...Elmo Sputterspark.”

“Nice to meet you, Elmo, and why are you joining us today?” She knows damn well why but she’s making him say it in front of everyone like a bloody torturer. _Because it was this or jail._

“Because I have...memory problems.” He fiddles with his hands, feeling naked without his blue rubber gloves. That’s not the whole of it, he also has childhood trauma, anxiety and Edison knows what else wrong with his frazzled mind but Megavolt wasn’t feeling up to sharing with this lot. They’d probably only mock him for being weak, anyway.

The therapist doesn’t look impressed at him clamming up but moves on. “And what are your interests?”

Megavolt’s mouth goes dry. Normally he’d chatter away for hours on his love for electronics and science however that was when he was dressed in a vinyl suit and facing off against some dumb do-gooder. Here he felt like a teenager again, ready to be mocked as a socially stunted nerd as soon as he opened his mouth. 

“I’m into electronics” is his simple answer. He prepares for the sniggers, the backhand comments, though his hearing doesn’t pick any up. Just the similar silence that’s been present throughout this whole ordeal. 

“Very interesting, Elmo. Now how about you?” 

Megavolt feels relief flood through his body and finally removes his eyes from the floor as she moves on to the girl to his left. He hears a muffled squeak and catches the girl flinch as all eyes turn to her. She blushes under the scrutiny and Megavolt’s glad he wasn’t the only awkward one here.

“I-I’m Lexi, Lexi Shocks.” She says in an extremely quiet voice, avoiding eye contact. It almost sounds rehearsed, hardly any emotion in her words. “I’m here because I have severe anxiety and paranoia.”

Now that’s something Megavolt can relate to, not that he would admit to it. He was being forced to be with these people and he was not interested in making friends or being supportive to a bunch of crazies. Even if her pink hair was cute. 

Megavolt spaces out after that, missing her interests (something about cars) and the introduction of the other two guys in the room. One’s a short kind of geeky-looking man named Reggie who’s dealing with workplace trauma while the other is a bloke with marriage troubles called Bud. 

It didn’t matter, Megavolt would forget everything said by these people by next session anyway. 

“Alright, time for our first activity.” The therapist announces, gaining Megavolt’s attention once again. His heart sinks and he vaguely feels the need to throw up. Activities? Wasn’t just talking about their problems enough? 

Quackerjack didn’t seem to share his grievances, sitting up and clapping his hands excitedly. “Goody, I love activities! Please say it’s a game!”

“Yes Quackerjack, it’s a game of sorts. For this specific activity we’re going to be working in pairs. Reggie and Bud, Lexi and Elmo and Quackerjack you will be working with me.” 

Megavolt’s sick feeling grew and he glanced at the girl to his left. She looked goddamn terrified. 

“This activity is called Eye Contact. The goal, as you can probably guess, is to hold eye contact with your partner for sixty seconds. This is to help you get comfortable with each other as well as practice an important part of social interaction.”

Quackerjack tips his head. “Kind of like a staring contest?”

“Yes, but blinking is permitted.” The therapist clapped her hands together. “Let’s get started, please turn your chairs so you are facing your partner.” 

Reluctantly Megavolt does as he’s told, twisting so he and Lexi were directly facing each other. She isn’t looking at him yet, gaze focused on the hands in her lap. 

“Everyone ready? Your time starts...now!”

Megavolt looks up, instantly locking eyes with the scared girl. He tries to focus on her, pay attention to the glittery eyeshadow applied over her lids, do as he’s been instructed, but it’s difficult with all the yelling in his head.

He didn’t like his eyes. They were seemingly always dilated (a side effect of his teenage accident) and glowed an unnatural electric blue. He wasn’t overly fond of his face either, cheeks covered in freckles and front teeth slightly protruding over his bottom lip. He hadn’t been teasingly referred to as a rat by his peers for nothing. 

He’s flushed again, he can feel it, and his breathing is getting laboured. That sick sensation in his stomach intensifies, a horrid concoction of nerves and self consciousness and painful memories. 

His discomfort must be obvious as she leans forward slightly. 

“Mate,” she whispers, accent laced with concern. “A-are you alright?”

Megavolt’s stomach wretched and he lost his breakfast at their feet.

It was chaos after that.

Turned out the girl also had a puke phobia, his actions setting off a fierce round of tears that turned into a full blown panic attack. 

Megs himself felt dizzy, almost falling face first into his own mess. Quackerjack was at his shoulder, having been the closest when he started heaving, gently easing him back in his seat. He felt drained. The room was spinning, his senses dealing with too much at once. 

Shame sinking in his bones, the uncomfortable sensation of sweat under his arms, the stink of half digested food. It was a living nightmare, brought about by his own wreaked feelings. 

Too overwhelmed to do much else Megavolt fainted, shouts and cries echoing in his ears.  
_________

The session was declared finished immediately. 

Once he regained consciousness, Megavolt was escorted out to the warden's car, a hundred times more miserable than when they arrived. His mouth tasted terrible and his stomach felt worse but at least he had nothing left to lose (even so, a plastic bag was shoved in his hands before they drove off). 

He slouched in the back seat, suddenly acutely aware of how much he had to pee. He didn’t have the voice to ask for a pitstop, instead crossing his legs and hoping he didn’t have to go through another indignity that day. 

They made it to Megavolt’s apartment block without issue, the villain led shuffling up the stairs to his door. He was pushed inside abruptly. 

“Remember to take your meds,” was all the warden said before he left, locking the door behind him. 

Megavolt sighed, running a hand through his hair as he sloped to the bathroom. It sucked being on house arrest but it was better than being stuck inside a prison cell. 

The bathroom brought much relief, both to the pressing issue of his bladder and the awful taste in his mouth. It took three capfuls of mouthwash until he was rid of the acidic taste, replaced with sharp mint. While he was there Megavolt decided to get the pills over with, choking them down dry like he’d trained himself to do.

That done he retreated to his beat up couch, where he planned to spend the rest of the afternoon and night stewing over the day's events and screaming silently into the pillows. It wasn’t like he could go out anyway, not even for a Hippo Burger. 

The thought of junk food makes his stomach growl but he can’t bear the idea of ingesting anything right now, still feeling queasy. 

“At least I have you,” is muttered fondly as he reaches for the coffee table, grabbing hold of a single lightbulb. All his other liberated lights had been confiscated, this one saved only because he’d thrown such a fit. It was like a stuffed toy, bringing him comfort when he needed it most. 

He falls asleep that way, hugging the bulb to his chest, mind finally silenced after a day of mental torture. 

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Megs, I swear one day I'll write a fic where I don't torture him.


End file.
